Business owner: Government offices crucial to Brockton’s downtown area

Friday

Feb 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMFeb 29, 2008 at 1:44 AM

John Merian, back at the helm of the Downtown Brockton Association, says government offices must be kept in the downtown.

Elaine Allegrini

Main Street businessman John Merian is back in the seat he occupied more than 20 years ago, that of chairman of the Downtown Brockton Association.

And, he is fighting the same fight he fought back in the mid-1990s, keeping state and federal offices in the downtown business district.

In 1996, the business group opposed the pullout of military recruiting offices from downtown and is now fearful other offices may relocate.

“In the past 15 years, the downtown area has definitely moved forward in a number of ways — development of housing and more restaurants,” Merian said Thursday, when the DBA met for the first time this year.

But Merian said the exodus of government offices must be reversed.

“Without state and federal workers downtown, there’s only so much the private sector can do,” Merian said.

He was elected chairman Thursday when some 35 downtown business leaders met to revive the organization that has led them through more than two decades.

There are still many state offices downtown, including the Department of Transitional Assistance, Department of Social Services and Department of Revenue. The federal government maintains an Internal Revenue Service office there, too.

But, the federal government last year relocated the Social Security office to the West Side, leaving a void in services that brought people downtown, according to Merian. He is also concerned that the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office may move from the area after a request for proposals was published. The office is maintained by state government, which leases the longtime Belmont Street location from the county.

Ongoing development of residential condominiums also offers opportunities in the downtown area, Merian said. And, new restaurants continue to come to the area, with one proposed for Warren Avenue and West Elm Street, Merian said.

“We need people to live in the downtown area in order to create a critical mass and students to create activity,” he said.